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Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Snapping Back

I’ve been watching the McLaughlin Group for many years, at
least as far back as 1989, that year of tremendous upheaval, with the end of Soviet rule in Eastern Europe and the student uprising in Tiananmen Square.
Politics was interesting then, or I was more interested in politics, and
McLaughlin’s Group was a lively bunch, interrupting each other, shouting out
their views. It was both educational and
entertaining.

Sometimes the interrupting would get a bit much, though;
sometimes you couldn’t even hear what people were saying; and sometimes,
especially in recent years, the panelists themselves would get frustrated. The most frustrated of them all in recent
years is Eleanor Clift. Or I shouldn’t
really say frustrated, perhaps rather faux frustrated. It’s the others who are truly frustrated, for
Eleanor keeps saying, “Let me finish, let me finish,” as if the others are
bullying her, when of course the truth is the other way around.

Maybe it’s because for a long while she was the only woman
on the panel and had to fight against the dominant males, but in fact the men
tend to be rather gentlemanly. They
almost always back down when Eleanor complains, and when she herself does what
she complains of, they usually say nothing – at least until this week.

For Eleanor perpetually interrupts others and normally they
say nothing. But let someone interrupt
her, and, Wow, she has at them. Until
this week. Mort Zuckerman, one of the
courtly gentlemen on the panel, who actually tends to be on Eleanor’s side, on
the Democrats’ side, against the neo- and paleo- conservatives – Mort was
criticizing the Democrats for not reaching out to the Republicans in this time
of deadlock. This raised Eleanor’s ire,
for she is nothing if not pro-Democrat, pro-Obama, pro-party line. She interrupted him, rudely, as she often
does, but this time Mort did not give way.
He said, “Wait a minute!” Loudly.
Angrily.
And finished his thought while Eleanor laughed nervously.

The camera pulled away as if embarrassed. It was as if some unwritten rule had been
broken: don’t shout at the lady. Later
when Eleanor interrupted him again, Mort much more mildly said, “Excuse me a
second.” First a minute, then just a
second. First a blast from the bellows,
like a bear, then the polite gentleman again.

But that’s what happens when you give way to bullies over
and over. Eventually one day you snap
and become a bear and people are astonished.
It will be interesting to see if the dynamics of the show change as a
result. Will Eleanor interrupt as
much? Will she still complain if others
interrupt her? Will Mort or others
complain about Eleanor? Will everything
just go back to the way it was? Will the
moderator finally step in and moderate, as he did a little more than usual
after Mort’s outburst?